As you tuck into that last piece of turkey and mince pie on Christmas day, remember that the first MotoGP™ test of 2025 starts just 37 days later. Add another 28 days and the first Practice session of the 2025 season will be underway in Thailand. 22 Grands Prix later, the season ends in Valencia on November 16. What other international sport stages its first test session of the next season just two days after the old season has ended? No time to reflect on the season and the 75 years of Grand Prix racing. No time for too much celebrating, because the new season has already begun. MotoGP™ never stands still.
MotoGP™ World Champion Jorge Martin hardly found time to put the champagne glass down when his reign as King and a new career began. He just had time to drop his number 89 plate in the Aprilia pit, and he was up and running. Switching factories when you are the current World Champion is always a brave move. In some cases, the move had to have been made. In others, proving they are a true Champion by retaining their title on a different machine the next season is the ultimate challenge. A challenge that only two riders have met and succeeded in that 75-year history.
Even legendary World Champions Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini never won that accolade by winning successive world titles on different machinery. Hailwood switched to Honda after winning four successive 500cc world titles with MV Agusta but never brought the Japanese factory the title. Ago won seven successive 500cc titles for MV before a historic two-stroke switch to Yamaha. He left MV when his teammate Phil Read won the title in 1973 and brought Yamaha their first Premier class title in 1975. Seven years later, World Champion Marco Lucchinelli joined Honda to spearhead their new 500cc two-stroke project with Freddie Spencer after winning the title with Suzuki in 1981.
So, the legends tried and failed, and it was later that the first rider to win successive 500cc titles on different bikes came along. In 1989, American Eddie Lawson switched the number one plate from Yamaha to Honda. He had won three 500cc titles for Yamaha before a one-season switch to Honda. He certainly proved his point and legendary status by winning the title for his new employers before returning to Yamaha in 1990. The most publicised switch of allegiance came in 2004 when Valentino Rossi stunned Honda by announcing he was joining Yamaha. The Italian had brought Honda one 500cc and two MotoGP™ World titles before moving over to struggling Yamaha. The rest is history. Rossi brought Yamaha their first Premier class title for 12 years in 2004 and went on to win four more.
That Barcelona test may have come so quickly, but it certainly whetted the appetite. Martin in action on the Aprilia. It is a big ask for him to join Lawson and Rossi, but we said exactly the same thing when they switched. Marc Marquez full of smiles at last on the latest Ducati for the factory Lenovo team. KTM debuts for Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales and Pedro Acosta, still chasing that elusive first MotoGP™ victory, joining Brad Binder in the Red Bull factory KTM team. Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller on Yamahas and Marco Bezzecchi joining the factory Aprilia team.
Less than 48 hours after shedding tears on his Grand Prix retirement the irrepressible Aleix Espargaro was back in the saddle. Honda have surely taken their first steps to recovery by appointing him as their Test Rider. Some nervous opening MotoGP™ laps by the newcomers, who will be delighted to get such an early feel, before the serious stuff starts at the end of January. Enormous responsibility on the shoulders of Moto2™ World Champion Ai Ogura at the Trackhouse Aprilia team, the only Japanese rider in the Championship, as the country still waits for that first premier class title.
So, the action has really finally finished, and the curtain drops on a hectic, explosive 75-year anniversary Grand Prix season.
A happy Christmas to everybody. Enjoy the break because the finger is already poised on the roller coaster button to start the ride up again in 2025.